


Lay Your Body Down (Next to Mine)

by Awesomeist0



Series: If Only [2]
Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Angst at the beginning, Bathing/Washing, Cuddling & Snuggling, Homesickness, Loneliness, M/M, New Relationship, Sickfic, Sponge bath turned sexy times, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Yes you read that ship right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 12:51:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17142086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awesomeist0/pseuds/Awesomeist0
Summary: Set a few days before TLC.  Finn's sent home from the South American tour sick.  It's his first time in Seth's home alone since they moved in together, and he's feeling sorry for himself.Luckily, his boyfriend comes home to kiss him better.





	Lay Your Body Down (Next to Mine)

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to "Remainder." You probably don't have to read that to enjoy this one, but in a nutshell, Finn broke up with Sami Zayn to start a relationship with Seth.
> 
> This isn't a real people fic. My story is about Seth, Finn, and Sami, not Colby, Fergal, and Rami.
> 
> Enjoy my first attempt at smut!

Everything hurts.

 

His head’s throbbing; brain pulsing behind his eyelids and he couldn’t even lie down.  Because just the slight pressure of the pillow against his scalp made him feel like he was burning alive.  He shudders, wrapping the thickest, fluffiest throw that Seth has around his shoulders. It still smelled like him.  Which was nice, but also broke his heart.

 

He was so lonely.

 

Finn sighs bitterly, glaring at the cup of tea that he’d been ignoring for the past several hours.  He’d boiled it early in the morning, after he forced himself downstairs because he couldn’t stand to be in bed without the man he loved.  It had been a mutual, almost unspoken agreement between them all. Sami kept their apartment in Brooklyn, since he’d just gone through major surgery and it really wasn’t fair to force him to move in that condition.  But it also wasn’t as if Finn could live there anymore. Despite the rumors that had been circulating, Sami hadn’t thrown him out in the street or anything. He knew that he could have pretty much remained there indefinitely, if he wanted.  Not that he would do that to Sami. There was too much still there, too many ghosts of their failed relationship that lingered in the shadows. And he also knew, but would not comment on the fact that Sami was still madly in love with him. He hadn’t spoken the words since the night that he’d walked in on Finn and Seth making love in their bed.  But he could see the love the younger man had shimmering in the tears that always lurked in his hazel eyes. The way he’d look at him, mouth pulled into the saddest smile as his eyes seemed to beg him to stay with him. To choose him, fall back into his arms and let the love that Sami had for him wash over him like water in a warm bath.

 

It couldn’t happen.

 

So Seth asked him to move in.

 

It was probably foolish, agreeing to relocate hundreds of miles away to live with a man he’d only been dating for a matter of weeks.  But his heart jumped at the chance. A new home. A new life, with Seth. He’d be a fool to pass that up. While Sami was in Birmingham recovering from his second shoulder surgery, he and Seth had gone back to his former home to pack up his remaining belongings.

 

Finn didn’t think that being there would make him feel so much, especially with Sami gone.  But it was haunting. Photos of him and Sami in happier times- visiting his family in Ireland and Sami’s family in Canada and even silly photos of them and their friends back in NXT seemed to be staring at him.  Grinning but somehow grim faces encased in frames of steel and glass all glaring at him, eyes burning into his soul and judging. It made him shudder. If Seth hadn’t been with him, he would not have been brave enough to continue.

 

Things were good.  Are still good, at least with Seth.  They had so much time together, traveling and fighting and just cuddling together, with Finn happily content in the nest he and Seth would construct out of hotel blankets and the soft glow of their love.  It was like a beautiful dream. Everything was so perfect. Seth was due to be getting a huge push soon, and though his feud with Ambrose weighed heavily on his mind, it was something the fans were ravenously waiting for.  And things seemed to be looking up for him as well. Vince McMahon may not have believed that he was _over_ with the fans, but they’d at least trusted him in a main event feud with McIntyre.  Which, granted, tended to end up with him getting beaten mercilessly week in and week out, but it was still a step up.

 

Until he got sick.

 

It started as a fever.  Chills. Even feeling Seth’s glorious heat against him couldn’t warm him, and he eventually ended up in a hotel room in Chile, barely able to move with a weeping sore on his abs.  His lover had been absolutely terrified for him, having seen Ambrose recently go through a bout with MRSA. The only thing that scared him, really scared him truly was knowing that he couldn’t be with the man he loved.  Couldn’t touch him, hold him the way his soul craved. Not without risking Seth’s health. So the medics checked him out. Put him on strong antibiotics. And sent him home.

 

Back to Davenport.  Without Seth.

 

It felt...wrong, being here without him.  It’s his house too. Seth has given him keys, carved space in his home for his action figures and Legos and the millions of little things he’s collected from one corner of the world to the next.  He likes it here, he really does. Seth’s home is spacious; modern and clean with an amazing gym built in and all the comforts he could possibly want. But. Maybe it’s the fever talking, but nothing here feels like _his_.  Even at the kitchen table, staring at the flowers that his gorgeous boyfriend sent him to cheer him up and clutching his favorite imported tea in his chipped Darth Vader mug.  It still feels like he’s on vacation and any day now, he’ll have to pack up and leave.

 

Seth’s little dog Kevin meanders into the room, his nails clicking on the polished tile floor and making his brain pulse.  “Hey,” he mutters, reaching down to scratch his fuzzy head. But Kevin wants nothing to do with him, this stranger who has invaded his home and taken away his master.  So he shoots him a glare, or at least the closest thing a dog can and wanders off.

 

And Finn’s alone again.

 

He doesn’t really know what to do now.  He _could_ unpack.  Do something useful with this unwanted block of free time, since he’s on the road almost three hundred days a year.  But just getting up to microwave his tea seems like a herculean effort. Finn sets his head on the cool wooden table, reaching out to skim his fingertips around the whisper soft petals of one of the roses.  Seth feels everywhere here; his scent on the blanket and his favorite foods in the kitchen and he can’t help but sometimes go around just to lightly stroke the various items in the house, since his boyfriend was the last one to touch these things.  He tries to convince himself that it’s enough. But his heart still aches. And even if Seth was with him now, it’s not like they could touch.

 

Finn pulls his blanket tighter around his shoulders, the very core of his being screaming and begging to feel Seth’s hands against him.  Making him feel whole, because right now, he’s shattered.

 

His phone rings, which makes his heart slam so hard against his ribcage that it feels bruised.      “ ‘ello?”

 

But it wasn’t Seth’s voice.  “Hey.”

 

Finn sits up straight, the pain that was crashing over him in waves momentarially forgotten.  “Sami? Not expecting to hear from you.”

 

He hears the voice on the other end of the phone waver slightly.  “Sorry, this was probably a stupid idea. I...I’ll hang up, if you want, but I heard that you got sick.  That sucks.”

 

Finn chuckles humorlessly.  “It really does. And no, it’s all right.  I’m feeling really lonely.”

 

“I’m sorry to hear that.  I know it probably doesn’t help, but I know what you’re going through.”

 

“You’re probably the only one who does.”  He takes a sip of his tea, trying not to imagine the soft smile and sad hazel eyes.  “ ‘m sorry I didn’t call you after your surgery. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if you’d want to hear from me.”

 

“You’d never have to worry about that.  I’d always love to hear your voice.” Sami’s voice is so soft and sad, and Finn feels his heart breaking for his ex all over again.  “I...I’m actually doing well. Bayley and my parents helped me out a lot, and I’m not sure if you’ve heard but I’ve got a new roommate.”

 

He had heard that.  And doesn’t like it one bit.

 

“Yeah mate, you and Alexa, eh?” Finn tries to keep a smile injected in his words, but he feels it fall flat.  The whole situation felt off. According to Bayley, she’d recently ended her engagement with Buddy Murphy and, like Sami, needed a fresh start.  Even though they’d never been friends, at least not to his knowledge, Sami’s heart was so big that he allowed her to move in without question. Finn had tried to find out details about their relationship, but Bayley wouldn’t speculate.  And he never pushed, since their friendship still felt tenuous, at best.

 

“Strange world, huh?” Sami really is too fucking pure for this world.  Finn doesn’t like the way this feels, like something has settled at the core of his stomach and he can’t draw a full breath.  He doesn’t know why he’s so concerned. He shouldn’t be. Sami’s a grown man, and if he wants to open his

 

_//not their//_

 

home and bed to Alexa Bliss, it’s his choice to make.  But he doesn’t know much about her. Barely remembers her from NXT, as she spent most of her time with her boyfriend and his tag partner.  Even on Raw, she’s always just sort of been _there_.  Around but never close.  “She’d had a rough time of it lately, too.  Failing her CTE and now she’s back home with the same staph infection that took you out.”

 

He doesn’t like the way he phrased that.  It’s not Alexa’s home, it’s Sami’s. But he smiles through gritted teeth, even though he knows the other man can’t see him.  “I feel bad for her.” Which is a lie; he really doesn’t. There’s no reason that she’s been getting so many big pushes when Bayley has been all but shoved to the sidelines.

 

“I’ll tell her you said that.”  Sami’s voice is wistful. “I saw your Instagram posts recently.  Not like I’ve been stalking you or anything...fuck, now that I said that, I sound like one of those demented exes.”

 

Finn chuckles, some of the ice around his heart melting.  “It’s fine Sami, really. What do you think of Kevin?” The photos were for Seth’s benefit, mostly.  He wanted more than anything to show his new boyfriend that he really was worthy of being in his life; he was totally at home there and things were as perfect as they could possibly be.  As much as he tried to put a positive spin on it, took pictures of the dog with his replica Universal Title draped over him and other assorted cutsey selfies, the animal was neutral towards him, at best.  

 

“Cute little guy, even if he does have an unfortunate name.”  Bitterness still clung to Sami’s words, and Finn didn’t think he had the right to comfort him.  He’s lost that privilege after shattering his heart, and it wasn’t even as if the other man needed him anymore anyway.  “Look, I won’t keep you. I just…” He felt Sami’s sigh more than he heard it. “I was thinking about you. Even though I know I shouldn’t be.”

 

Finn doesn’t know whether to smile or sob.  “I still care about you, you know.” His words feel strange as they fall from his lips and he probably should regret them.  

 

The front door opens and closes, and he hears Kevin go skidding down the hardwood floor like an excited child on roller skates for the first time.  His heart swells in his throat, almost choking him and he can’t even allow himself to hope. Even as Sami is still on the phone, his breathing ragged as he tries to find his words, Finn’s mind is elsewhere.  

 

And there he is.

 

“I’ll talk to you later.”  He ends the call, letting the phone clatter to the table as he falls into the soft gaze of the man he loves.  “Baby!” Finn leaps up to his feet but his head is still pulsing, and he almost falls back down from the sudden movement.  Seth is _here_.  Exhausted and wrinkled from travel, his hair in a messy topknot and falling down around his eyes.  

 

“Take it easy, sweetheart.”  Two of the most gentle hands settle against either side of his chest beneath the blanket.  Finn wants to cry from that soft touch alone, the warmth seeping into him and making him feel complete.  “I’m not going anywhere.”

 

He knows he should stay away.  He’s still contagious, with another four days on his antibiotics until he can even think about getting back in the ring.  But with Seth so close to him; there and warm and _his_ , he can’t even consider it.  “What are you doing here?”

 

Seth reaches up to cup his cheek, his thumb smearing the line of tears he hadn’t realized he’d shed.  “Taking care of you.” Soft lips chase the path of his thumb, and Finn clutches him closer as if he could physically keep him from disappearing.  “You’re burning up.”

 

“You have been gone for quite a while.”  He attempts to leer, but he’s sure it’s negated by the fact that he’s crying.  And Seth doesn’t even acknowledge it. The hands skim up and down his face, rubbing the tears back into his skin as if Finn can actually reabsorb them.  “Fuck, I don’t know why I’m crying.”

 

Seth holds him closer.  As close as two people could possibly be, but it doesn’t seem to be close enough.  “Let me take you to bed.” His voice is so soft and gentle, and makes Finn’s insides melt like butter on toast.  He nuzzles against Seth, pressing his face lightly against his neck as the younger man lifts him as if he weighs nothing.  It makes him feel strange, this display of strength from his boyfriend. Had this been anyone else, he probably would have been embarrassed being this vulnerable.  His size always seemed to be one of his greatest weaknesses in the eyes of others. It didn’t matter what he was capable of in the ring, all that his bosses and opponents saw was that he was a man that was significantly smaller than most others.  But _Seth_ loved him.  So he allows himself to melt in his strong arms.

 

By the time they’re upstairs, Finn finds that he can’t stop shaking.  Can’t stop looking at his boyfriend, as he’s afraid that the moment they break eye contact he’ll disappear and he’ll be alone in this big house once again.  He leans back against the pillows, tears still streaming down his cheeks as Seth touches him so gently. More gently than he deserves. “I’m a fucking disaster.”

 

“No.”  Lips brush against his temple over and over, repeating to infinity before dancing down his cheekbone.  “You’re perfect.”

 

He snorts at that, dropping his head down to stare at a loose thread on their quilt.  “I smell. Haven’t showered since the fucking tour.” Finn hadn’t seen the point in it.  His head was too sore and his body ached, and if the water rushed over the sore on his abs, he knew it would be agony.  “No wonder I have the plague.”

 

“You don’t have the plague, sweetheart.  But if you want, I can help you get clean.”  Seth kisses each of his closed eyelids, as if coaxing the tears to stop falling.  “Can you give me a few minutes?”

 

Finn draws a shuddering breath, hating the look of concern that crosses his boyfriend’s face.  “As long as you promise to come back.” He wishes that he can take the words back almost as soon as they slip out.  Of course Seth’s coming back. This is his house, he’s home now and he says that he loves him.

 

_//but you said that you loved Sami, didn’t you? how did that turn out? you’re so fucking fragile that it’ll only be a matter of time until Seth finds someone better; someone worthy.  someone who *didn’t* fracture the heart of your best friend and you’ll be alone and//_

 

“Sit up for me.”  Seth sets a large plastic bowl of soapy water on their nightside table, brushing a piece of choppily cut hair from Finn’s eyes.  It’s more of a struggle than he wants to admit; his head is throbbing and his chest hurts and the brush of his t-shirt against his bandaged covered sore has him biting his tongue sharply to keep from screaming.  But he manages it, because that’s that Seth wants. And he won’t deny his boyfriend anything that’s in his power to give. His dark eyes are so gentle, shining with the most beautiful smile as he leans forward to tug the shirt off of his body.  “Let me know if this is too hot.” So gently, as if Finn is something that requires the utmost care, Seth dips a washcloth into the water to wipe his forehead. Down his cheeks to chase away the remnants of his tears with the lavender scented water.  

 

Each stroke of the cloth against his sensitive skin feels incredible.  His lover’s touch is as light as a feather, a whispered ghost of a caress with the worn blue cotton.  It doesn’t hurt; Seth never could hurt him. But it scratches his sensitive skin in the best possible way.  Making him tingle slightly from the combination of the warm water and the fibers of the cloth. It’s the look in his love’s eyes that nearly drives him over the edge.  His doe eyes are filled with such revinance, as if he’s allowed to touch something so precious that it doesn’t seem like he can continue without crying. “You don’t have to do this.”  Finn’s trying to keep it together as best he can, because he can feel deep down that he’s maybe a few minutes away from losing it completely. Not because there’s anything wrong, but feeling Seth’s soapy and so very loving caresses feel too perfect.  As if this is the best moment of his life and he needs it to stop because when this ends, what else is left for him?

 

“I have you.”  Seth drops the washcloth down to his neck, lightly wiping a trail down his pale skin to his collarbone.  The younger man’s touch is more deliberate here, pressing harder against his pectoral muscles and Finn feels himself getting painfully hard from this attention.  It’s been almost 10 days since Seth last touched him like this. Not all that long by any stretch of the imagination, but he feels his soul absolutely screaming for his touch.  His kiss. Finn moans low in his throat when his boyfriend’s plush lips close around his nipple. Suckling hard, flicking the tip of his kitten tongue against it to make the dark peak stiffen.  God, he’s missed this. But this doesn’t last long. Seth pulls away to continue washing the rest of his body, pressing a light kiss to his lips as if to consume his desperate whine. “Patience, love.”

 

Which must mean that Seth was going to take care of him.  To touch him the way he so desperately needed, because as it was, he wasn’t sure his heart could continue beating without it.  “Need you.” His voice, if it could be called that now, was little more than a strangled whine forced into a facsimile of sound.  

 

“I’m going to take your pants off.”  It wasn’t a question, but Finn could still see that his love was searching his face for permission.  If Finn didn’t want this it wouldn’t happen, but fuck, even while sick there was no way to turn off the sweet fire in his core from each of his boyfriend’s touches.  Seth pushes the sweatpants down his slim hips and off of his body, the soft cotton teasing his skin as it became exposed to the cool room air. He presses his head back into the pillows, breath escaping in desperate puffs at the feeling of his boyfriend’s warm hands against his bare thighs.  Pushing him down, fingertips lightly skimming up and down the curve of his skin. The younger man has made no motion to touch him through his boxers or even at his nipples again, but Finn’s cock was so hard that it almost hurt. But in the best way. A sweet throbbing that he craved, one that would chase away all of his pain and uncertainties.  He bit his lip to keep it from quivering as Seth’s hands danced down his inner thighs and calves, one of his hands closing around Finn’s foot. Seth’s mouth twitched up into a soft smile as he slid one finger beneath the thick fluffy cotton to rub lightly as his ankle. These were absolutely ridiculous socks. Fluffy and neon orange, with a silly giraffe face with googly eyes on the toes.  Sami got these for him before he went under the knife for his shoulder surgery to cheer him up, and it actually worked. Seeing the goofy little face when he opened his eyes cut through the hazy static of the pain he was in and even though they were silly, these fluffy socks always made him feel safe. But he didn’t need them anymore, not with Seth here and touching him. His boyfriend pulls them off, throwing them to the floor and lightly rubbing the arch of his foot.  It tickles, a little, even though it shouldn’t. He can feel Seth’s fingertips against his foot, skimming the baby soft skin and rubbing it gently, taking away all of the tension that he’s been carrying for the past few weeks. Months, maybe. The washcloth replaces the soft hand against his skin, brushing and rubbing against the skin and seeking out the soft webbing between his toes.

 

Once he’s clean enough, Seth presses a light kiss to his instep, his eyes blazing so full of love and he moves the cloth up the quivering muscle of his thigh.  His touch is still chaste, concerned more with spreading the translucent bubbles and sweet water against his skin than the painful problem in his boxers. He brushes the washcloth higher, tickling the sensitive skin of his upper thigh and dipping briefly within the leg of his underwear.  Finn tries with all that is in him to hold back the moan that chases the touch, but there’s no way he can. Not with Seth there, touching him and so so close to all that he wants. “Baby,” his voice is desperate, swimming with a million unspoken feelings and desires he’s sure that Seth knows already.  

 

A warm hand slides further up his leg, one solid fingertip of contact brushing and swirling against the overly sensitive head of his cock.  He bucks hard against his boyfriend, uncertain how only a fingertip’s worth of contact could make him feel so much. So unglued. “I’ll take care of you.”  The younger man’s voice is honey sweet, thick and cloying and Finn wants to drown in it. He tugs the well worn material off of his body, cock bobbing and almost slapping hard against his bare abs.  Seth stares down at him with such heat that he can feel his nerve endings beginning to blaze from the delicious sensation of their skin touching. He brushes the washcloth against the juncture of his thighs to his pelvis, and even though the water is warm, it feels almost like ice against his fevered skin.  “So. Beautiful.” Seth drops his head to press little kisses against his skin, just the smallest brushes of lips against sensitive flesh and tongue pressing into the little line of muscle. Finn can’t fight a choked little sigh at the feeling of his own cock pressing lightly on his boyfriend’s face, but Seth isn’t really touching him.  He nuzzles it a little, but it’s only the slightest of pressure. Enough that he can feel it radiating throughout him like an earthquake, but not enough contact to give him what he needs. And then there’s a mouth, so warm and wet. Tongue flicking against the sensitive head and teasing beneath the flared ridge.

 

He’s not the beautiful one here.  Seth is. With his huge eyes, so warm and almost unfocused. His pupils blown wide and almost completely obscuring his irises.  Soft, plush lips stretched across around the base of his cock with tongue flicking up to seek all the spots Finn can’t breathe without, the ones that Seth knows so well already that makes his brain fizzle in the best possible way.  He hasn’t fully taken him into his mouth yet, just skimming his lips up and down the entire length and teasing. So teasing, but in the little strokes and touches, he can feel that Seth will take care of him. He knows that as surely as he knows that his heart beats only for his boyfriend.  He wraps the cloth around Finn’s straining erection, and he whimpers and bucks up hard into it. “Touch me,” he whimpers, feeling tears of desperation streaming down his cheeks again. “God, touch me, touch me, don’t let me-”

 

The cloth is gone in an instant, replaced by the glorious warmth of Seth’s mouth.  He takes him from the root to the tip, swirling his tongue around the base of his cock near his balls and Finn has to squeeze the quilt in two shaking hands to keep from grabbing his boyfriend’s hair.  “I have you.” Seth’s words are distorted, thick and barely audible around his eager cock. Finn can barely breathe, doesn’t want to breathe because it feels like a waste of energy that could be used to savor his lover.  Finn doesn’t know how much longer he can last, not with Seth holding him so tightly, his lips coaxing moan after moan past his locked throat and he just wants to explode. Melt down from all the glorious sensations that Seth’s surrounding him with and he doesn’t want this to end, but he _needs_ it to, because if he doesn’t come he doesn’t think he can exist.

 

Seth holds him tighter as he comes unglued, screaming out his release along with nonsensical words that are supposed to be a declaration of love, but come out as a garbled mess. His boyfriend reluctantly releases him, licking the residual come off of his softening erection.  For the first time in so long, he’s happy. Totally and completely content, his heart throbbing so happily as his body seems to continue pulsing with each of his aftershocks. There’s so much he wants to say, but as Seth continues to touch him, to clean the little bit of his cum off that he wasn’t able to swallow, Finn doesn’t think he can speak.  He doesn’t need to, because he’s so sure that Seth can feel the love that he has for him radiating off of his body in waves as glorious as his lover’s body heat. He wants his boyfriend to hold him, to fall back into the warm safety of his arms and just stay pressed against him. Skin to skin, their hearts beating together and their breathing synched.  

 

But they can’t.

 

Seth probably shouldn’t have touched him the way he just did.  It was an unnecessary risk, even if it was one that Finn needed with every cell of his being.  The tears of complete happiness and contentment morph to lonliness as he turns over onto his side, wrapping Seth’s blanket around his side and pretending not to care.  “You don’t have to stay.”

 

Lips that taste of himself and desperation brush lightly across his own, as the younger man curls into his side.  “I’m never leaving you.”

 

“But you have to.”  Finn looks up at him, his vision glassy and hazy from the tears he can’t fight.  There’s just not enough in him anymore. “I’ll hurt you.”

 

Saying nothing, Seth lays against the pillow, his lips clinging and releasing to the skin at the base of Finn’s neck.  His arms close tightly atop his chest, fingers skimming so gently across the top of his abdominals. Slowly. Each brush of his fingertips almost in synch with his heartbeat.  “What did I just say?” The younger man nuzzles his shoulder, his beard scratching deliciously against his kiss bruised skin. “Maybe I can’t hold you the way I want to, right now.  But I can still hold you.”

 

That’s all he wanted.  He squeezes his eyes to hold back the tears he knows that Seth can’t see, as he relaxes fully against the man he needs more than oxygen.  They don’t talk much; they don’t need to. Because nothing else matters. Not work. Not the other people in their lives; families that they both miss far too much and friends that Finn knows he’s hurt.  He shudders happily, counting the kisses that Seth presses against the back of his neck and the sensation of gentle fingertips against his stomach until he drifts off to sleep. And for the first time since he came back to Davenport, he doesn’t dream.

  
  



End file.
